While his course of recovery is not yet decided, the playmaker will miss the rest of the series, Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said on Sunday morning.

Giteau, who sacrificed a major chunk of his Toulon salary to feature in the Bledisloe and Rugby Championship, was already unlikely to play Tests beyond this series but he has been robbed of the chance to make his own decision.

Rob Horne will also miss the rest of the series, likely set for shoulder surgery after dislocating the joint in the loss.

Horne has a history of shoulder injuries and the options for his recovery will be assessed in the coming days.

Matt Toomua will also likely miss the Wellington Test with concussion, though he will be monitored under the return to play protocols this week.

Cheika said Giteau was understandably disappointed, but also pragmatic about the injury.

“Yeah, well, that's always the possibility in the games of injury, we know that,” he said.

“Sometimes they come in triples like last night, sometimes they don't come at all.

“He's disappointed but he's also very realistic, he's a pro, he knows that he's still got to get himself right and get back to his club commitments for later in the season so that’s what he'll be doing.”

The injuries leave the Wallabies in a major hole at inside centre, though Cheika said there were a few options that he could consider for the second Test, including reverting to the dual ball carrier structure of the June series.

“We'll have a look at that today around the possible options that we've got,” he said.

“A couple of our playmakers as well in those three guys that'll be missing.

“We'll take a look at - obviously Quade's (Cooper) here and Reece Hodge who's been playing 12 for us and playmaker a little bit.

“So, there's a few other options - we could go for two ball carriers as opposed to two playmakers like we did in England.

“We'll see how that pans out over the week.”

Cheika didn’t rule out the possibility of switching Israel Folau to outside centre, though said his preference was for the star Waratah to stay at 15.